FOOD AND HEALTH ESSENTIALS

Turkey prepares to enact regulations on food contact materials

Turkey’s Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock has notified the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of its intention to adopt regulations regarding food contact materials.

Issued in late May, two separate Notifications from the Ministry propose:

1. rules for active and intelligent materials and articles that are in contact with food” (WTO document number 17-2904); and
2. general rules for food contact materials and articles and setting the procedure for the authorization of the substances that are used in the food contact materials and articles” (WTO document number 17-2905).

As drafted, the proposed regulations appear to adopt much of the language contained in the European Union’s Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 on materials and articles intended to come in contact with food.

According to the Notifications, the proposed regulations would take enter into force at the end of August 2017, but would include provisions for a transition period of at least one year.

The text of Turkey’s Notifications to the WTO on “materials and articles that are in contact with food” are available here and here.

The Notifications include links to the proposed regulatory text (in Turkish).